The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team travelled to Guelph on Sunday to face the Guelph Gryphons at the Guelph Gryphon Athletic Centre. The Lancers went into the match hungry seeking revenge for the five-set heartbreaking loss they suffered at home back on November 2nd at the hands of the Gryphons.
 
However, Sunday's game would unfortunately produce a similar outcome as the blue and gold lost again in five sets, 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, and 9-15) to the Gryphons, but this time in their house.
 
With the loss, the Lancers fall to 4-4 on the season to close out the first half of the season while the Gryphons improved to 6-3 on the campaign to date with the win. 
 
GAME STATS
Pierce Johnson led the way offensively on both sides with 15 kills for the Lancers in the loss. Johnson also added 3 service aces, 7 digs, and 2 solo blocks having a well-rounded performance in Sunday afternoon's tilt.
 
Fifth-year veteran, Brad Gyemi, also contributed to the offence with 7 kills. Dami Alalade, Sean Spencer, and rookie Luca Nastase all chipped in offensively with 5 kills each. Nolan Langley had 38 assists in the loss. 
 
The Gryphons were led by Zarko Ubiparip who had 14 kills for his team in the win. 
 
GAME FLOW
The first set went the Gryphons way predominately, as they held the lead for most of the first. The Lancers were down 16-12 at the technical timeout, however coming out of it the blue and gold managed to tie things up at 18 apiece. Unfortunately for the blue and gold, the Gryphons went on a tear finishing off the first set with seven unanswered points to take the first set 25-18.  
 
In the second set, the hosts maintained a consistent performance brought over from the first set, continuing to hold a lead on the Lancers for most of the set bringing themselves to the technical timeout up 16-12 yet again. Windsor would not go away easy this time however as they managed to steal the Gryphon lead away with strong play to hold a 23-22 lead forcing the Gryphons to call a timeout. The Guelph timeout would work in favour of their cause to come back turning the tables on the Lancers by regaining the lead 24-23 and ultimately took the second set 25-23. 
 
For the third set, the blue and gold were tired of being outplayed it seemed as a strong start propelled them to take control of the set early on. The Lancers would beat the Gryphons to the technical timeout this time leading 16-11 and went on to close out the third set 25-20 and force an extra set in the match trailing 2-1 to Guelph. 
 
Fourth set began similar to the third for the Lancers who continued to play strong and maintain the momentum in the set. They managed to head into the technical timeout up 16-11 again and continued to battle hard against the Gryphons to force a 5th and deciding set. 
 
In the fifth set, the Guelph Gryphons decided they would not go down in their building to close out the final game of the fall semester. They held a huge lead 8-3 when they switched sides holding onto all the momentum which was generated by their strong play and with help of the energy from the home crowd. The Lancers tried to make a late push in the set but ultimately it would not be enough against the Gryphons who took the fifth set 15-9 closing out the match 3-2.
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now take some time off to focus on their exams and also enjoy the holiday break. The team will return to action in the new year when they face the Ryerson Rams, on January 11th in Toronto.
 
The Windsor Lancers would like to wish everyone a joyous holiday season and hope to see you back again in 2020!